Negative Zero
by Fairady
Summary: Given a choice in the matter, there really was no other option that made sense to Temari.


Disclaimer: I neither own nor make money offa these characters. The Suna sibs would have a lot more screen time if I did.

Warnings: Crackish cliche.

Notes: Another installment in a cliche fic challenge. This one utilizing the infamous blanket scenario. I'm being oddly charmed by the Chouji x Temari pairing.

Negative Zero  
by Fairady

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Temari was pissed.

"Get off!" Temari tried shoving Ino away, but the lack of leverage and the stubbornness of the blonde woman made it a useless gesture. Ino only whined and rolled closer, still soundly asleep Temari noticed with disgust. She gave up. Ino was just deadweight now, and nothing Temari did would get the woman to roll away.

Temari damned the stupidly vain blonde and every supposed teacher she might have had. What kunoichi in her right mind would leave something as important as a sleeping bag behind just to make room for make-up?

True, the weather had been nice up to the trip to Sunagakure, but warm days meant nothing in the desert where the hottest days always lead to the coldest nights. Only complete idiots didn't prepare themselves for that. Ino had been pissed at being called a complete idiot, but that hadn't stopped her from begging Temari to share.

It'd been a mistake to give into the other blonde's whining, but at the time all Temari had been thinking about was saving her eardrums. What Temari hadn't counted on was how Ino seemed to have the ability to suck the heat out of everything around her.

Temari shuddered as, without warning, the two blocks of ice Ino called feet were shoved under her legs.

That was it! Cursing, Temari fought her way out of the sleeping bag and Ino's clinging grip. The effort at least warmed her up, but any heat gained was lost the minute she stopped moving. The cold air leaching it all away in seconds. She had several options opened to her now.

She could kill Ino and take back the sleeping bag that was rightfully hers; she could swallow her pride and go to one of the males; or, she could just spend the rest of the night huddled up in a cold miserable ball.

Another shudder rippled up her spine and the last option was pitched out. And, as tempting as it was to kill Ino, Temari really didn't want to have to deal with the paper work that she'd be required to do afterwards. For one night, Temari could take the blow to her pride. Now she just had to decide which of her allies would give her the least trouble over this.

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"Move over."

Chouji was awake and assessing the danger before the zipper in his tent had been fully undone. _Not friend_, was the only thought he had while drawing back for a punch guaranteed to break bones. _Wait, ally?_, came half a second later making him pause long enough to really wake up. Chouji stared blankly at Temari who glared back from the entrance, lips pressed tight, and... Was she shivering?

He slowly lowered his fist and asked, "What?"

"Move. Over." Temari bit out each word harshly. She didn't wait for him to say anything, crawling fully inside and zipping the flap shut behind her.

And, yes, Chouji could clearly see that the woman was shivering. It was probably all she could do not to let her teeth chatter. The weather had dropped unexpectedly, they should've known that Temari --returning home to the heat of the desert-- wouldn't be prepared for it. It probably didn't even get close to being this cold in her Village.

Chouji didn't think twice about sliding out of his sleeping bag and wrapping it around Temari. The proud woman shivered violently at the heat and moved closer to him, not stopping until she was firmly nestled against his side. Obviously she wanted to warm up as quickly as possible, he couldn't blame her for that, but he didn't really like the way she was settling in. Getting comfortable.

"Um," Chouji squirmed a bit, but Temari refused to be moved. He hadn't thought about anything more than giving her his sleeping bag. "Maybe you could take it and sleep with Ino. She-"

"Ino," Temari muttered, settling her head firmly against his shoulder, "is a skeleton. She's got nothing to keep the heat in, she was sucking it all away from me!"

Which was true. Ino always went on about how cold she was, but she'd never listen to him about actually _eating_ something. Maybe he could use this situation later to convince her to stop dieting. Later. After he'd figured out what to do with Temari. He didn't know much about Suna's customs, but through long association with Ino he knew it wasn't really proper for a young woman to sleep alone with just any guy. Maybe Asuma-sensei could fix this for him.

"Would it-" Chouji stopped talking. Temari apparently didn't share his own reservations as she was already asleep. Proper or not, he really didn't want to wake her up. She'd also looked tired when she came in.

Sighing, Chouji settled back down trying not to jar the sleeping woman too much, The ground was kinda lumpy and a little too cold for his liking, but Chouji thought he could deal with it and everything else at least until morning.

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End file.
